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7.3-Magnitude Earthquake off Fukushima, Japan Jolts Many But Officials Say No Damage

ICTMN Staff

10/25/13

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, early Saturday (Friday October 25 on the U.S. East Coast), though no damage was reported, and the nuclear power plant that had been disabled in the devastating, 9.0-magnitude 2011 earthquake and tsunami appeared to have suffered no damage.

The quake rattled people all the way in Tokyo, about 300 miles away, the Associated Press reported. Footage from a security camera at the plant shows the facility rattling for a good minute in the temblor.

The meteorological agency of Japan’s government initially issued a one-meter tsunami advisory for the northeastern coast, but warnings were not issued for the rest of the Pacific, AP said. The warnings were lifted within two hours. The Japanese agency called the quake an aftershock of the 9.0 that spawned the tsunami that killed about 19,000 people. The October 26 one, which struck at 2:10 a.m. Tokyo time on Saturday, was about 180 miles off of Fukushima and 6.2 miles below the ocean bottom, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

"It was fairly big, and rattled quite a bit, but nothing fell to the floor or broke. We've had quakes of this magnitude before," Satoshi Mizuno, an official with the Fukushima prefectural government's disaster management department, told the AP. "Luckily, the quake's center was very far off the coast."

The 50 nuclear reactors in Japan are still offline while officials determine whether they can withstand further earthquakes. But Fukushima’s reactors and fuel rods may still be vulnerable.